Darkest Before the Dawn
by LuckyLadybug
Summary: Post-series, my Pendulum Swings verse. A sadistic madman abducts Lector and Mokuba to punish Gansley and Seto for firing him from KaibaCorp in the past. While he torments the Big Four by sending abominable packages, Lector and Mokuba have to struggle to find a way to escape their prison in a cursed ghost town.
1. Chapter 1

**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Darkest Before the Dawn**

**By Lucky_Ladybug**

**Notes: The characters from the show are not mine. The antagonist and the story are! This takes place in my post-series **_**Pendulum Swings**_** verse, which started as a Yami Bakura redemption arc and now has also redeemed the Big Five. This is a very unusual story for me, although I have occasionally ventured into horror-type stories in the past. There is some disturbing imagery and a lot of thematic elements. However, my usual themes of friendship and familial love are also present, of course. And as is usual whenever I do attempt something darker like this, things aren't what they initially appear to be.**

**Chapter One**

Life had been relatively peaceful in Domino City for the last several weeks. Everyone had settled into their usual routines: school, work—both, in some cases—family and friends, and dueling. No new or old enemies had reared their heads, so for all of the city's rescuers, all was well.

The Big Five, always inseparable, were still working on their plans to make Crump's dream of a combination penguin preserve and theme park a reality. It was a good project, Gansley felt, and one that would positively put them in the public eye. And with the world's current attitude on caring for the environment, he was sure it would also be a success and return a great deal of profit for their investment.

Seto Kaiba had finally started to settle in more with the knowledge that the Big Five had truly turned over a new leaf and were trying to live righteously. They had definitely helped in more than one recent crisis, and of course, with Shadi's delivery of the elemental rings worn by their and Seto's ancestors, they were meant to fight together, not against each other. Seto was still frustrated to no end by having to use any type of magic, but at least his ring could summon a Blue Eyes White Dragon from the Duel Monsters' dimension, so that was something enjoyable.

The Big Five were still struggling with their charge to help save the world, and as far as they were concerned, since the rings only worked for magical crises, they weren't very useful in general. But they held onto them for the next time they would be needed.

Tonight, the rings were the last things on any of their minds.

xxxx

Lector was running late as he finally left to head to Gansley's. It was just one of those things, but he was frustrated with himself anyway. He had always prided himself on being punctual; it was one of the things Gozaburo had liked about him the most.

It really wasn't that far to Gansley's home; they all lived in the same wealthy part of Domino City where the Kaibas lived. He was almost there when someone suddenly ran out into the street and stood there, holding his hands out in front of him.

Lector had no choice but to brake. "What is the meaning of this?!" he demanded as he opened the car door and leaned halfway out. "Do you need help?"

The other man's face twisted in a cruel sneer. "In a way. I need help bringing misery to someone I hate . . . and you're going to help me."

Lector wasn't sure whether to grab the guy and scream for an explanation or to dive back into the car and speed away. But he had no chance to make up his mind. Something hard struck him from behind and he fell out of the car and to the ground with a groan. The man who had stopped him walked over and stood over his unconscious body, sneering down at him.

"Yes," he purred, lifting Lector's right arm and studying the purple ring on his finger. "You will do just fine."

xxxx

It was unusual for Lector not to show up for one of the Big Five's meetings to discuss their project. The others had gathered at Gansley's house and had been waiting for their associate with growing impatience and confusion for some time.

"He's not answering the phone," Nesbitt frowned after another attempt.

"The maid said he left to come here," Crump said. "Maybe there was trouble. We should go out and look for him or something!"

The doorbell rang, bringing all of their attention up. "That's probably him now," Gansley said calmly. "You were worrying over nothing, Crump."

Crump scowled. "After everything we've been through, it makes sense to worry."

Gansley went over to the door and opened it, not bothering to wait for the maid. But instead of Lector, there was only a box with a white envelope on top. "What on Earth. . . ."

"What is it?" Crump asked, peering over Gansley's shoulder.

"It's addressed to me," Gansley said, lifting the envelope. But as he took out the sheet of paper and read the newspaper-letter words, his blood ran cold.

_Are you missing someone, Mr. Gansley? He's mine now._

_Wondering if this is a ransom note? Well, it isn't. I couldn't_

_care less about money, yours or anyone else's. What I do care_

_about is causing you untold grief and anguish for what you did_

_to me. You fired me for being too 'unstable.' Do you remember?_

_It happened shortly before your little accident with the virtual reality_

_machine at KaibaCorp, so it's taken me this long to be able to have_

_my revenge. Now that all of you are back in your bodies in the real_

_world, I can finally torture you good and proper. You'll never see_

_your friend again. At least . . . you'll never see __**all**__ of him._

"Worrying for nothing, huh?!" Crump cried out. "What the heck does that mean?! Who is this creep?!"

Gansley shoved the paper back in the envelope. "I remember him," he said, his voice dark and dangerous. "Martin Cove. He had a hair-trigger temper and a heavy imagination. He was very delusional. Once I caught him trying to kill a fellow employee with a knife for some imagined insult. I fired him on the spot and recommended to his doctor that he receive psychiatric treatment."

"It doesn't sound like he took your advice," Nesbitt snarled. "Or it didn't do any good. What happened?! What did he do with Lector?!"

Gansley looked down at the box. "You know what he just insinuated."

"I know, but that can't be real!" Nesbitt boomed.

More newspaper letters had been glued to the top flap of the box. _There's more where this came from._

"They couldn't . . . !" Johnson cried, losing his usual composure.

Gansley picked it up and gripped it tightly with both hands, not wanting to open it yet knowing they had to see.

Nesbitt, always impatient, pried the flaps up to look inside. He went stiff.

Crump stared, his eyes wide. "They sent us an arm!" he screamed. "They sent us _his_ arm!"

_A severed forearm, in the remains of a purple sleeve. . . . Blood was everywhere. And on one of the limp fingers was a purple ring, the ring Shadi had given Lector. . . ._

"It's just a phony, right?" Crump exclaimed. "Some Halloween prank from a store?!"

"No," Gansley rasped, his eyes horrified and haunted. "It's real."

"But . . . that still doesn't mean it's really Lector's . . ." Crump trailed off.

Johnson turned and fled down the hall, a hand over his mouth. A moment later the bathroom door slammed.

Gansley suddenly felt weak. The box slipped from his grasp as he fell back, unable to support it or himself any longer. Crump caught him, holding him tightly by the shoulders as they both trembled.

"He might be dead," Gansley rasped, passing a hand over his eyes. "All because this madman is trying to get back at me for firing him. . . ."

"Or he might even still be alive while this nut is . . . cutting parts off . . ." Crump realized.

Nesbitt snarled. "You really believe anyone could do this to him if he was alive?!" He turned, running for the door. "Someone must have seen who delivered this. I'm going to find out who it was right now!"

No one stopped him.

Gansley slumped into a chair, heavily, completely sheet-white. Crump hurried to his side. "Come on," he exclaimed. "It couldn't really be . . ."

"We're both afraid it is, so why pretend?" Gansley shot back.

"Because maybe it isn't!" Crump insisted. "Maybe he's perfectly fine!"

"Fine?!" Gansley's voice rose. "He's been abducted by a madman willing to pull outrageous stunts like sending body parts to the victims' loved ones! Even if that isn't his arm, could he be fine in the grasp of a madman like that?!"

". . . No," Crump knew.

Gansley reached for the phone. "I'm calling the police. Then I'm going to the security room to see if the cameras picked up anything when the package was delivered."

Crump looked down the hall. "And I'd better check on Johnson. . . ."

Slowly he approached the closed bathroom door. There were no sounds other than the running water in the sink, at least at first. But then it shut off and Crump heard a much different sound.

Sobbing.

Johnson had locked himself in the bathroom, crying like a baby.

Crump's stomach twisted. He reached up, knocking on the door. "Johnson? . . ."

The lawyer choked off mid-sob. He was silent for a moment, probably desperately trying to pull himself together, and then finally replied, "What?" His voice was still badly quavering, which he tried to disguise with a rasp.

"Hey. . . ." Crump leaned on the door with one arm. "I think we all feel like crying, Pal. If you want some company, nobody's gonna put you down for bawling your heart out."

Finally Johnson unlocked and opened the door. He looked terrible, completely ashen. His eyes were red and unspeakably haunted. His hand on the knob was violently shaking. "If that . . . that was really . . ." He shook his head. "When Gansley read the note, I . . . I still thought we could find Lector alive. Now . . . I don't even know if I want him to be alive. . . . What else will they do to . . ." He trailed off, choking on another cry.

Crump pulled him close in a hug and Johnson didn't try to pull away. "I don't know," he said helplessly. "I don't know. . . ."

xxxx

A harsh slap across his face drew him back to consciousness. "Wake up, Démas Lector."

Lector started, his eyes slowly opening. He still felt so weak . . . so out of it. . . . He couldn't even feel his right arm. . . . "What . . . who are you?" he mumbled.

"Martin Cove." A sneering face got right up in front of him, the eyes wild, the grin inhuman. "You're going to be with me for a long time, probably forever."

"What?!" Lector came awake more at that. "I remember you now; Gansley fired you from KaibaCorp. What do you want with me?!"

"You're just the catalyst to hurt him," Cove answered. "I'm going to take him apart piece by piece . . . by doing the same thing to you." He dug his hand into Lector's hair, pulling tight enough to cause pain. Then he let go with a wild cackle.

"You're going to . . . what?!" Lector struggled, desperate to move, but he could not. "You'll be found out," he spat. "Gansley won't stand for it and neither will the others! And I'll fight you with everything I've got!"

Cove caught him by the ankle as he tried to kick out. "Which won't be much," he replied. "Even less after this." He squeezed tightly.

Lector stared at him. He was growing sleepy again. . . . There must have been a miniature needle hidden in his captor's hand. He slumped back.

"And when you wake up again, you'll have a friend here with you," Cove whispered in his ear as he passed out.

xxxx

The police were deeply concerned about the abduction, and alarmed by the threats and the box. They immediately took the contents to be analyzed at the lab, also taking some hair from Lector's brush in the guest-room for a DNA match.

The Big Four all remained at Gansley's house. No one wanted to leave. Food and sleep were a joke. But they couldn't stand hours of nothing but pacing in agony, so they desperately tried all that they could to track Martin Cove's whereabouts or favorite hang-outs.

It was almost impossible; the man had virtually dropped out of sight after being fired. No one seemed to know where he was or what he was doing. Gansley finally slammed both hands on the desk in outrage. "He must have changed his name!" he snarled. "It could take months to find him!"

No one voiced that they might never find him. Gansley knew that all too well, after his ex-wife and children had dropped off the face of the planet.

"And if Lector is still alive, he has to be found right away," Johnson said. "He might be left to bleed to death!"

"We don't know that was his arm!" Crump screamed.

Dead silence reigned. No one really had anything to say to Crump; none of them wanted it to be true, but they all feared it was. The purple sleeve certainly looked like Lector's coat, and the ring . . . it was unlikely that the ring was a fake. And if those things were his . . .

It had been hours by now; it was late at night and nothing had been accomplished. But sleep was definitely not about to happen and there was nothing more they could do from inside at the computer.

Suddenly Nesbitt's eyes flashed. "We can't wait for the lab results! Lab work can take several days or more! We're just going to have to operate on the assumption that the arm is Lector's. We have to find him!"

"But how?!" Crump wailed.

"We'll just go out looking everywhere, like we did when those kids were missing in New Orleans," Nesbitt said. He ran for the door. "Let's go."

The others chased after him.

xxxx

It was so strange, being held captive like this. . . . Every little while he would wake up, but never completely. He felt so dizzy, so out of it. . . . Now he couldn't feel his left foot either.

A kick to his side startled him and he looked over with bleary eyes, only barely making out Cove's outline in the darkened space. It seemed like every time he woke up, Cove was there, kicking him, slapping him . . . and always whispering unwelcome words.

"They're all suffering," Cove hissed now. "They were sent a horrible package tonight, with blood and purple cloth and let's not forget the severed arm. They're going to get more too. By now, they don't know whether it would be better for you to be dead or alive, although they're not giving up on finding you alive. Those poor fools. They don't know you'll be dead long before they ever find you."

Lector tried to pull himself to awareness, but it always seemed to be just out of his reach. He felt so strange . . . so loopy, for lack of a more eloquent word.

Was he really being mutilated? Was that why he couldn't feel . . . ? Maybe he was being kept drugged in order to remove parts. . . .

He couldn't stand to think of the others having to deal with something so horrible. Gansley would be so enraged, but so helpless. . . . Cove was his archenemy now. Nesbitt would be on fire too. Well, all of them would be. . . . And then they'd break down, especially as time went on. . . .

He was upset to think of himself being left like that too, of course, although in his drugged state it didn't fully process. Mostly he heard over and over what was happening to the others and how they were suffering . . . suffering . . . _suffering._

How long had it been? Hours? Days? . . . How long could he survive like this?

He had been fading in and out of consciousness for an indeterminable amount of time when the cell door opened and a small form was thrust in. "Here," Cove sneered as he slammed the door. "Here's a friend for you."

The sight of a raven-haired boy collapsing to the cold cement floor shocked Lector more fully back to awareness. "Mokuba?!" He climbed down from the rickety bed, not stopping to process that he could finally move again, and lifted the child. When Mokuba didn't stir, he looked back to Cove with flashing eyes. "What did you do? What do you have against this boy now?!"

"Nothing against him," Cove shrugged. "But when I appealed to his brother after being fired, he upheld your friend's decision. So naturally, I couldn't let that go unpunished either. I waited until now to torture Seto Kaiba so that I could make it part of my plot against Charles Gansley." He locked the door and walked away without acknowledging Lector's other question.

Lector rested the child's body against him while feeling for a pulse. "Come on, Mokuba," he encouraged when he found it. "Wake up. . . ."

Mokuba groaned and snuggled against him. "Lector . . ."

A split-second memory flashed through Lector's mind, of a much younger Mokuba waiting for Seto to get done with his studies and climbing onto Lector's lap to sleep. That had been the first time Lector had realized Mokuba really liked him . . . and when he had realized that for the first time, he was fond of a child.

Suddenly Mokuba snapped awake. "Lector?!" He looked up at the man with wide eyes. "What's going on?! Where is this?!"

"I don't know," Lector said in despair. "We've been taken prisoner by Martin Cove."

"The guy who used to work at KaibaCorp?!" Mokuba yelped. "He was a real loose cannon!"

"That's why Gansley fired him and your brother supported it," Lector said. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. . . . I think so. . . ." Mokuba looked around the strange, enclosed area. "This looks like some kind of old jail cell. . . ."

"I know." Lector looked Mokuba over in concern. The boy seemed dizzy. "Are you really alright?"

". . . I guess so. That big jerk hit me." Mokuba scowled, then winced as he found the bump under his hair.

"There's no telling what he's capable of doing," Lector said angrily. He stood, still holding Mokuba, and went back to the bed. Gently he laid Mokuba down and then sat next to him.

Mokuba was grateful for the softness of the bed. "If we could figure out where we are, maybe we could escape. Is this guy working alone?"

"I haven't seen anyone else," Lector said. "But I don't see how he could have abducted me by himself."

"Don't you remember what happened or anything?" Mokuba frowned.

"I was going to Gansley's," Lector said. "I remember someone running into the road so I had to brake. . . . I got out to demand what was the matter and something came down on my head. Then I woke up here . . . but I wasn't fully conscious until he threw you in with me."

"Your coat sleeve's torn," Mokuba observed.

Lector looked down in surprise. He had been so shocked to wake up with Mokuba being thrown in that he hadn't even noticed. But indeed, the sleeve was missing at the elbow. So was the sleeve of the dark shirt he had been wearing underneath.

"That's funny," he frowned. "I don't remember being conscious long enough to put up a fight. Why would he tear off part of my sleeves?"

"This guy's nuts," Mokuba said bitterly. "He must have had some crummy reason. Maybe he wanted a trophy or something."

"My ring's gone too," Lector suddenly realized.

"You were wearing that?" Mokuba blinked.

"Yes." Lector studied his bare finger. "I was trying to make myself get used to it."

"Well, Shadi did say that bad guys wouldn't be able to tell the true value of the gems, so hopefully Cove's not trying to pawn it," Mokuba said.

Lector paused. "I feel like I kept waking up in a daze and he was talking to me. . . . He was saying outrageous things, but now I don't remember them. I only know I have a very bad feeling about the others."

Mokuba sighed. "Seto's gonna go through the ceiling. And your friends will be really upset too. . . ."

"They'll all take the town apart until they find us," Lector said. "Only I doubt we're in town at all."

"I wonder if we're really far away." Mokuba got up and walked to the window, standing on tiptoe to look out. ". . . That's weird."

"What is?" Lector stood, half-limping over to the window.

Outside, the street resembled an old Western town. The abandoned buildings and wooden sidewalks seemed straight out of _Bonanza _or _Gunsmoke._ Lampposts up and down the street were lit with flickering candles inside their protective glass covers.

A chill ran up Lector's spine. "Get away from the window," he ordered Mokuba.

The child started, looking up at him. "Why?!"

"Because I said so." Lector grabbed Mokuba's arm, pulling him back.

In a moment, another light came on across the street and the smell of stew cooking began to filter through the jail cell bars and into the room.

Mokuba's stomach growled, loudly. "Oh wow. That smells so good. . . ."

"It's not real food," Lector insisted.

"Well, what is it then?!" Mokuba retorted. ". . . Oh no." He turned several shades of pale. "We're up at that ghost town, aren't we?"

"The one where it always seems that people have been around five minutes before," Lector agreed. "Cooperstown." He went back to the bed. "Once, while we were staying at Johnson's cabin for the weekend, we ended up driving as far as Cooperstown because Nesbitt couldn't believe the rumors about the town were real."

Mokuba retreated to the bed as well. "But you all found out they are," he whispered.

Lector nodded. "We all had enough of the place before long."

"And now we're stuck here for who knows how long," Mokuba moaned.

Lector sighed. "It'll be alright, Mokuba." He prayed he was right. "Anyway, I think right now, we have more to worry about from the living than the dead."

Mokuba couldn't disagree with that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes: For any newcomers, Marik and Mokuba are very close friends in my verse. I once read a story where they became friends, and I loved it so much that the concept has been a staple of my works ever since.**

**Chapter Two**

No matter how the Big Four desperately scoured the city, there was no trace of Lector. The police had an all-points bulletin out for Martin Cove, but no one had reported seeing him yet. Hours later, in nearly complete despair, the friends regrouped and returned to Gansley's house. It was an unspoken agreement that they would all stay together that night. None of them wanted to be alone, and if there was any news, it would come to Gansley's house.

All of them were stunned when they arrived and found Seto Kaiba pacing the large porch in agitation. "What on Earth . . . ?" Gansley muttered. He could hardly believe Seto would be that upset after hearing of Lector's abduction. Mokuba certainly would be, but he wasn't there. Actually, that was strange. . . .

Seto looked up with a jerk as Gansley exited the vehicle. "What's going on?!" he demanded. "What's this about Martin Cove kidnapping Lector?!"

"He wants revenge on me for firing him," Gansley said, his voice clipped and cold. "Did the press get hold of the other unique aspect of this case?"

"The severed arm? Oh yeah, you bet they did!" Seto's eyes flashed. "And Martin Cove got hold of Mokuba!"

"_What?!"_ Gansley stared at him.

"How did that happen?!" Crump exclaimed.

". . . It's not that hard to kidnap a kid," Nesbitt grunted. "Especially a small one like that."

Seto nodded. "He didn't come home from school today. Then I got a note at the office. Cove was crowing about kidnapping Mokuba!"

"Why would he take Mokuba?" Johnson frowned.

"Because Cove came to me after Gansley fired him," Seto replied. "I upheld Gansley's decision. Therefore, he decided I deserved to be punished too!"

Johnson looked ill. "Has he sent you any . . ."

"No," Seto snarled, "but obviously he's capable of it! And even if he doesn't do that to Mokuba, can you imagine how traumatized Mokuba is going to be if that slime is doing it to Lector and Mokuba has to watch?!" He stormed towards his limousine. "I'm sparing no expense looking for Cove."

"Neither are we," Gansley growled. "We're going to find him, and his captives."

"Yeah. . . . But will it be in time?" Crump couldn't help worrying.

No one wanted to answer him.

xxxx

When Seto left Gansley's house, he immediately went to the Ishtars'. Marik would absolutely want to know, and to be involved in any searching, and Seto wanted all the help he could get. He didn't want to leave Mokuba trapped with Martin Cove for one moment longer than was necessary.

It was Rishid who answered the door when Seto banged on it. "Kaiba," he greeted in surprise. "What's happening?"

"Is Marik here?" Seto demanded.

Marik appeared from behind Rishid. "What's wrong?" he gasped.

Seto stepped past Rishid into the foyer. "Mokuba's been kidnapped," he said grimly.

Marik went stiff. "Who did it?!"

"Have you seen the news tonight?" Seto asked.

"Yes," Ishizu said grimly as she walked over to the gathering. "We know about poor Lector being taken . . . and about what that madman is doing to his poor friends." She sighed sadly. "At times like this, I wish I still had my Millennium Item. I might have been able to see something that could help find him."

Marik looked to Ishizu, then back to Seto with a jerk. "Did the same person take Mokuba?!"

"Yes, because he wanted to punish me too," Seto said darkly. "The Big Five can't find him. _I_ can't find him. Until we can turn up some more information about the man, all that's left is to tear this city apart looking for them."

"We'll do it," Marik promised. "I'll leave right now." He ran to the door, his hand shaking as he gripped the knob. The thought of Mokuba in the grasp of a sick mind like the person who had taken Lector was too horrible to bear. He could only imagine what Seto was thinking.

"We'll all help," Ishizu said.

Rishid nodded. "We'll spread out and search everywhere."

"Thank you." Seto turned to leave as well.

"Kaiba?" Ishizu called after him. "Are you going to tell Téa and the others about this?"

Seto froze. "Why Téa, specifically?" he retorted.

"She and Mokuba are good friends," Ishizu calmly replied. "And she considers you a friend also."

Seto clenched a fist. "You know, I used to think that there couldn't be anything more dangerous than magical enemies. They have so many powers that are hard to understand or fight against. But now that I've seen what Cove is capable of . . . it's a whole different ball game. He doesn't use magic, but he has something just as dangerous, if not worse—a demented outlook and a thirst for blood. I don't want Téa and Yugi and all of them mixed up with someone like that. Only . . . maybe the Pharaoh's and Yami Bakura's magic can be some kind of a help in saving Mokuba . . . and Lector too, if it's possible. So yes, I guess I'll have to contact them."

"They will want to know," Ishizu said. "And to help."

Seto knew she was right. He took out his phone as he hurried out the door.

xxxx

None of the Big Four felt like eating. But, knowing they had to keep their strength up in order to properly search, they struggled through a meal.

Gansley excused himself as quickly as possible. The others, worried for him, headed down the hall once they were done eating. While Johnson sometimes retreated to a balcony to be alone, Gansley would barricade himself in his study.

"Gansley?" Crump called, knocking on the door.

"It's not locked," Gansley grunted.

Crump pushed it open. Gansley had swung the chair behind his desk to the side and was staring off at the wall without seeing it.

"Gansley," Johnson started to say but couldn't continue. He couldn't promise they would find Lector. He wasn't even sure he wanted to find Lector. Part of him was tempted to pray Lector was dead, if he truly was being mutilated.

"Do you remember when we met him, Johnson?" Gansley still wasn't facing him.

"Of course I do." Johnson took off his glasses. "Gozaburo had heard about that bizarre court case that I won for you and he wanted the both of us to join KaibaCorp. Lector greeted us at the door with a bow and said he hoped we would seriously consider the offer . . . that there'd never be another like it. . . ." His voice caught in his throat. "Of course, there never could have been. No other offer would have brought us together with him . . . and Nesbitt and Crump as well. . . . They were already working there."

"Yeah, Lector was the first of us there," Crump said. "For me and Nesbitt both, he was there to greet us when we joined."

"I immediately knew I wasn't going to get along with him," Nesbitt said gruffly. He shook his head. "But he got under my skin anyway. . . ." He turned away. "He's my best friend. . . ." His voice cracked.

"You mean the world to him too," Gansley said.

"We're gonna get him back!" Crump insisted.

"In what condition?" Johnson said sadly.

"We won't know that until we find him!" Crump boomed.

Nesbitt gripped his arms. The last thing he wanted was for all of them to fight. He turned back and uncharacteristically said, "What was that bizarre case about again?"

Everyone looked to him in stunned surprise. It was more like Crump to try to diffuse a tense situation, as long as he wasn't already fully into it himself. When he was, Gansley or Johnson would try to calm it. Or Lector. . . . Nesbitt was usually a large part of the problem, not the solution.

Gansley was in no mood to talk about the case, either. He just looked away, back to the wall.

Johnson folded his arms and looked to Nesbitt. "Gansley had fired an immature fool who repeatedly sat on the Xerox machine and Xeroxed his backside, minus his pants. Then he posted the pictures all over the building. When Gansley finally caught him, he said, 'Since you find your posterior so fascinating to look at, I'm sure you won't have any trouble finding a new job . . . as a male stripper,' and gave him his walking papers. He decided to turn around and sue Gansley for firing him. I had just joined Gansley's company and agreed to represent him." He smirked. "My skillful planning of our case led us to victory, especially the medical experts I brought in to testify to how unsanitary that fool's actions were. I didn't even have to resort to anything underhanded on that occasion. Gozaburo liked how no-nonsense Gansley was and how legally skillful I was and insisted on having us both join KaibaCorp."

Crump laughed. "I can't believe that jerk just kept on doing that with the Xerox machine until he was caught! And then being so stupid as to feel like _he'd_ been wronged and had to sue!"

"People have sued with flimsier cases than that, and unfortunately, they've won," Johnson said. "I've represented some of them." He sobered. "But I'm glad that in this case I was on the opposite side. I met Gansley and then we met the rest of our board of directors."

Suddenly Gansley slammed his hand on the desk, startling everyone. "Lector's missing and you're all laughing about a fool who was acting like his job was nothing more than a junior high school prank!"

Crump sobered. "Hey, I didn't mean any disrespect to Lector or this mess," he said. "I just . . . wanted to think about something else, since there's nothing we can do. . . ."

Ignoring him, Gansley barreled on. "I've fired so many people through the years, usually because their work wasn't good enough or because they were acting like fools. Only once did I have to fire someone for being irrationally violent, and now that's the case that's come back to haunt all of us!" He propped himself up on an elbow as he covered his face with his hand. "He's taken Lector. We never will get him back. . . ."

The others looked to each other in dismay.

"Of course we'll get him back," Crump said at last. He went to stand behind Gansley's chair, gripping the top of it with both hands. "We really will! And he'll be alive, and okay . . ."

"And I will kill Martin Cove with my bare hands," Gansley snarled.

No one offered a protest.

"And hey, Mokuba's with him," Crump continued after a moment. "Kaiba doesn't have anything to worry about."

"But we do, and Lector does," Nesbitt growled. "Having to worry about the boy's fate is going to put a lot of stress on him."

"I just hope . . ." Johnson looked away. ". . . That he's alive to be worried."

"Everyone hopes that," Nesbitt said, but he wouldn't face anyone either. "No matter how much any of us hope, none of us really believe Lector is still alive."

"Hey, speak for yourself!" Crump snapped.

". . . If he's being tortured so much, I can't say I wouldn't wish he was dead so he wouldn't have to suffer," Johnson rasped. "I suppose . . . until we hear back from the lab . . . there's always a chance. . . ."

"Of course there is!" Crump insisted. "And I'm gonna cling to that chance!"

Gansley didn't speak. He knew Martin Cove better than the rest of them. He had thought he knew what the man was capable of. Now, he was terrified of what he didn't know.

xxxx

At the Game Shop, Yugi and some of the others were gathered in the living room, watching the late news with Solomon. When the story about Lector's kidnapping came on, they all stared in disbelieving horror.

"Oh my goodness," Solomon exclaimed.

"No," Yugi gasped.

"What kind of sick jerk does something like that?!" Joey boomed.

"And what if that arm is really . . ." Téa looked ill. "Oh my gosh. . . ."

Tristan scowled. "I hope they catch him real soon."

"Someone like that won't be caught unless he wants to be," Yami Bakura grunted. "Or unless someone smarter than he is can pick up his trail."

Bakura shuddered and hugged Oreo the cat, who was on his lap. "His poor friends. . . . I can't imagine how devastated they must be. . . . Although I do have some idea. . . ." A cloud passed through his eyes at the memory of those terrible days when Yami Marik had abducted Yami Bakura and tortured him while Bakura desperately searched for his dear friend.

Atem shook his head. "We should really help look."

"We should!" Yugi leaped up. "I'm going to call them right now."

But Seto's call came in before he could. He pressed the button on his phone, but before he could speak, Seto barreled right in. "Yugi, Mokuba's been kidnapped."

"What?!" Yugi cried. "We're just hearing about Lector being kidnapped on the news!"

"It's the same nutcase," Seto said. "I can't find his trail, so all I can do right now is comb the town."

"We'll help!" Yugi declared. "We were just about to volunteer to look for Lector. We'll look for them both!"

Téa, who was standing close enough to hear, was in horror. "Mokuba's gone too?! And the same creep has him?!"

"Okay, that's it!" Joey leaped to his feet. "We're going and looking everywhere! We can't give that crumb the chance to do to Mokuba what he might be doing to Lector!" His eyes darkened. "But I am not telling Serenity about this."

"She might hear about it anyway," Atem said. "I'm sure she'll know by tomorrow."

"Yeah, and tonight she's on a date with Duke," Joey scowled. "I'll just have to hope he doesn't turn on the radio."

"Listening to news on a date?" Téa made a face. "How unromantic."

"It's definitely not Duke's style," Tristan had to agree, although he was still smarting about the date.

"We'll spread out all over town and look, Kaiba," Yugi promised Seto. "Don't worry; we're going to find them!"

"We'd better," Seto growled.

xxxx

Cove didn't return to taunt either of his prisoners that night, much to their relief, but they were sure he was nearby, perhaps in the town hotel. And as the night dragged on, the cursed nature of Cooperstown became more apparent. Sometimes it sounded like music or the school bell ringing. Once or twice it sounded like laughter.

With only the one bed in the cell, it was difficult to manage to settle down to sleep. Lector was a big man and took up most of the bed, but Mokuba didn't want him to sleep on the floor as he had offered, so they were trying their best to share the space. Lector was laying on his side and had draped what was left of his purple trenchcoat over them both as a makeshift quilt. When Mokuba was suddenly awakened by a scream outside, he had to admit he was glad someone he trusted was right next to him.

The scream had startled Lector awake as well. "Are you alright, Mokuba?" he demanded.

"Yeah," Mokuba quavered. "That wasn't me. . . ."

"I was afraid of as much," Lector sighed. "When the hour gets late, it seems that screams fill the air. Then everything gets quiet, but the lights all stay on."

"I hate this place," Mokuba whispered.

Lector kept his arm around Mokuba. "I'll make sure nothing happens to you," he promised.

"Most visitors do get out okay, I guess so they can go back and tell about the town really being cursed," Mokuba said quietly, "but I've heard about horrible things happening to visitors sometimes. . . ." He looked towards the rest of the cell and suddenly screamed for real.

Lector started. As he looked over, the silhouette of a man hanging from the ceiling caught his gaze. There was no actual body, only a shadow—one that swung slowly back and forth from the weight.

"Don't look at it, Mokuba," he said. "It's only a phantom."

"But I bet it was real sometime." Mokuba tightly shut his eyes and turned away, burrowing against Lector. "Probably some crook who didn't wanna be a public showcase, so he hanged himself before it could happen outside, with everybody watching."

Lector sighed sadly to himself. Mokuba was young and innocent, but he had seen so much that he shouldn't have, and these comments were a reflection of his understanding of the adult world and the sadistic cruelty of people. He felt badly again for any part he had played in introducing Mokuba to such things.

After a moment he became aware that the boy was whispering under his breath, not talking to him or himself, but desperately praying that they would be kept safe and their loved ones would find them.

It wasn't a bad idea. Surely God would protect this child, even if Lector wasn't deserving of help. But Lector wanted to be kept safe as well. It would traumatize Mokuba if anything happened to him, and he couldn't stand to think of how his friends would suffer, after what had happened in New Orleans some weeks back.

He prayed for their safety and rescue as well, holding Mokuba close. Somehow he doubted either of them would sleep any more tonight.

xxxx

The Big Four had little choice but to attempt sleep that night. But none of them slept well; even Nesbitt's attempt at taking sleeping pills couldn't mask his agony this time. By the time it was morning, they all felt like ragged zombies as they stumbled downstairs.

"I guess it's ridiculous to ask if anybody slept well," Crump mumbled. "It's obvious nobody did."

"That's a total understatement," Nesbitt grunted, rubbing his eyes.

When the doorbell rang, they all looked up with a collective jerk. Was it the police? Although if it was, it was unlikely it was good news.

This time they waited for the maid to answer the door. But when she came away from the door holding a box just like yesterday's, their hearts sank in horror.

"What is this?!" Gansley boomed.

"I . . . I don't know, Sir," the maid stammered. From her eyes, she was afraid of the same thing they were. "Should I open it?"

"I'll open it." Gansley took it and lifted the flaps. He dropped it to the floor when the severed foot came into view.

"Again?!" Johnson screamed. "So soon?!"

"What is he gonna do, keep sending pieces every few hours?!" Crump cried.

Gansley stood staring at it, trembling with rage. Then he turned, grabbing for the telephone.

"What are you doing?" Johnson asked.

"I'm calling the police," Gansley snarled. "And then I'm going to the security room."

"It probably won't be any different than yesterday," Johnson said weakly. "We only saw Cove or someone working for him leaving the box and slipping off the property. We don't know where he went from there; none of the neighbors paid any attention. . . ."

"Well, maybe this time there'll be some kind of clue!" Gansley retorted. "We have to find him! We can't let this keep going on! . . . Hello?! This is Charles Gansley. There's just been a second delivery from Martin Cove."

Johnson slumped against the door at those words, his hands badly trembling. Crump laid a hand on his shoulder, his eyes filled with anguish.

xxxx

Lector was surprised when he opened his eyes and started to realize he had been asleep. He had hardly thought he would be able to fall asleep with all the sounds and sights of the cursed town afoot. He remembered Mokuba finally dozing; he himself had apparently fallen asleep sometime after that.

The boy stirred. "Lector . . . ?"

"I'm here," Lector told him. "It's morning."

"Mmm. . . ." Mokuba pushed himself up, gently brushing the trenchcoat off of him. "Weird things happen here in the daytime too. . . ." He looked around with nervousness, but the shadow hanging in the cell was gone.

"Unfortunately, yes," Lector agreed.

Mokuba looked around uncertainly. "Cove isn't back yet. . . . Maybe we can try figuring out how to get out of here now that it's light."

Lector sat up and looked around. "I'm sure he's removed anything we could use to get out of here."

"Even everything in our pockets?" Mokuba stood and dug his hands into his pockets. "Aww, man, he really did!"

Lector scowled as he checked his own pockets. "I wonder if he's going to deliver the contents of our pockets to our loved ones as further proof that he has us captive."

Mokuba blinked in surprise. "I guess he might. . . ." He crossed his arms with a scowl of his own. "Too bad we don't have a lot of hidden gadgets and gizmos like that guy on_ The Wild Wild West._"

Lector quirked an eyebrow. "You still watch that?"

"I remember the reruns," Mokuba said. "James West was cool." He grinned. "He reminded me of Seto, pulling out all this awesome stuff to save the day."

"Of course, he wouldn't have had all that 'awesome stuff' if Artemus Gordon hadn't invented it," Lector remarked.

"That's true. Artemus inventing stuff was like Seto too," Mokuba said.

"You probably saw your brother in every exciting character, didn't you," Lector mused.

"Well . . . a lot of them, yeah," Mokuba said.

"I used to think you were just blindly idolizing someone who didn't deserve it," Lector said, "but I've seen by now that you have a knack for seeing the good in people, even very unlikable sorts."

Mokuba looked back at him. From his tone of voice, he didn't mean Seto so much as he meant himself. "You're not unlikable," he protested. "And neither is Seto. . . . Hey, what do you think about Seto by now?"

"I can't say I appreciate every decision he makes; I don't by far," Lector said. "I still don't agree with some of the things he's done. But I can see he loves you, Mokuba, and I'm glad of that."

Mokuba nodded. "Yeah . . . he sure does," he said softly. He paused. "Lector . . . do you believe in God?"

Lector looked at him in surprise. "Yes," he said slowly, "I suppose I do."

"Do you think God will help us get out of here?"

"Well, they say God helps those who help themselves," Lector said, "so if we do all that we can to get out of here, He'll make up the difference if He sees fit to help us." He looked around the cell. "Unfortunately, I still doubt that we can do anything."

"How right you are," came Cove's giggling voice as he entered the room.

Lector stood, getting in front of Mokuba to protect him. "You can't keep us here forever," he insisted.

"I can give it my best shot," Cove grinned. "All of your loved ones are suffering so much because of what I've done."

Mokuba came out from behind Lector. "You creep! You'll be sorry when Seto catches up to you! And Lector's friends too! You've bit off more than you can chew!"

Cove just laughed. "You really call him 'Lector'? I'm surprised he doesn't scold you for being so informal, even, shall we say, disrespectful?"

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "That's none of your business." It was strange, though, how he never had thought anything of it. Bakura preferred being called by his last name. And the Big Five all called each other by their last names, and they couldn't be closer. Gozaburo had always done likewise, and Lector had never corrected the Kaibas when they called him by his last name and didn't even add "Mister," so it was how Mokuba thought of him despite being a child while Lector was an adult.

"Hmm, you _are_ disrespectful, aren't you," Cove remarked.

"I don't owe _you_ any respect," Mokuba spat.

"Are you just here to gloat?" Lector said coldly.

"No, actually," Cove said. "I'm going to do more than that. But I can't have you both in the same cell when I do it."

Mokuba stiffened. "Just leave us alone!" he cried.

"If he opens the door, be ready to run," Lector said low to him.

Cove sneered. He walked over, unlocking the door in one swift motion.

Immediately Lector knocked him down. "Run, Mokuba!" he ordered.

Mokuba tore out of the cell, dashing towards the open door.

A second man grabbed him up just as he reached it.

"Hey!" Mokuba screamed, desperately struggling against him. "Put me down, you big creep!"

His attention was swiftly diverted as Lector collapsed to the floor. Cove cackled, leaping to his feet and grabbing Lector's arms to drag him back into the cell.

"What did you do?!" Mokuba yelled.

"I stuck him with this drug." Cove held up his hand. Between his fingers he held a flat disc with a tiny pin sticking out of it. "I never leave home without one."

The second man threw Mokuba into the adjoining cell and locked the door. "Do you still want me here?" He sounded nervous.

"Yes," Cove insisted. "I might need some brute strength if Mr. Lector proves unruly." He sneered.

Mokuba ran to the bars at the front of the cell and gripped them in desperation. "What are you going to do?!" he shrieked.

"Mr. Lector's a big man. Only now he'll find out that he isn't so big after all," Cove mocked.

Lector stirred. The drug had only rendered him semi-conscious, but he wasn't awake enough to really process what was going on until he felt the manacles snap around his wrists and ankles. "What are you doing?" he mumbled. "Let me go. . . ."

Cove responded by striking him hard in the ribs. "Not until I've properly cut you down to size."

"Lector!" Mokuba screamed. He couldn't see what was happening in the other cell, but he could hear plenty. Lector desperately struggled and tried to kick out, but he was held down too tightly. Over and over, Cove struck and kicked him and then whispered terrible things about what his friends were going through. Lector fought not to cry out in pain when he was being beaten, but when he was tortured with tales of his loved ones' suffering, he screamed in outrage and strained in desperation against the bonds. Mokuba yelled and rattled the bars and begged for Cove to stop, all to no avail. He finally sank to his knees, sobbing, the sound of the beating ringing through his ears.

"Please make it stop," he whispered in a shaky prayer. "Please don't let him keep hurting Lector. . . ."

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when it finally stopped. Cove undid the manacles and stepped out of the cell, sneering in satisfaction. As he crossed to the other cell, he looked down at Mokuba with the same cruel expression. "Well, if I open this door now, will you still try to run for it?" he asked in what was clearly a mocking tone.

Mokuba glowered. Lector would probably want him to, but he couldn't, not when Lector was lying who knew how badly hurt in the next cell. "No," he spat. "Just let me go back to him."

"I thought you might feel that way, you little bleeding heart." Cove unlocked the door and stepped back.

Mokuba gave him a wary look as he slipped out. The second man, he noted, was long gone in spite of Cove's instructions. Right now, however, he didn't care. He hurried into the other cell and ground to a halt, gasping in horror at the sight of Lector lying lifeless on the bed. "No! Lector . . . !" He ran over, his hand shaking as he checked for a pulse. To his relief, it was there.

"Have fun," Cove jeered, slamming the door shut as he walked out.

Tears filled Mokuba's eyes. "Lector . . . please wake up. . . ." He rocked back, surveying the damage. Lector didn't seem to be bleeding anywhere, and nothing looked broken, but clearly he was badly hurt or he wouldn't be unconscious. Mokuba cried, gently hugging Lector around the neck as he prayed for his friend to wake up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The second day was a whirlwind nightmare down in the city. Yugi and all of the others had been searching high and low for Mokuba, Lector, and their treacherous captor, barely giving themselves any time to sleep. The Big Four joined the search as well, but no one came up with even the slightest hint of where they were.

"Come on, man," Joey said to Gansley at one point, "you've gotta remember something about this creep besides the fact that he liked holding knives on people for no logical reason! Hobbies, friends, something!"

"Don't you think I've been trying?!" Gansley snapped. "All I remember is how sadistic he was. When he wasn't working, he was looking at books and websites about torture! That alone would have caused me to fire him if he hadn't tried to attack an innocent employee for some imaginary insult!"

Joey cringed. "Are you serious?! Man, what is the matter with this guy?!"

"That's what I wondered," Gansley growled. "But once I fired him, I didn't think any more about him. He was nothing to me."

"While he never stopped thinking about you or how to get revenge on you," Tristan remarked. "That's a dark irony for you."

"And there hasn't been any word from this madman today at all," Seto snarled. "Not about Mokuba."

"Well, we can't stop looking," Marik declared, clenching a fist. "They have to be somewhere!"

But wherever that somewhere was, they couldn't seem to find it.

xxxx

The bad news only got worse as the day dragged on. Everyone finally gave up the search for the time being, knowing they needed to refuel and perhaps try to find a new angle for possible success. Towards evening Gansley took a phone call that left him sheet-white as he hung up the phone.

"What was it?!" Nesbitt demanded.

"The lab has finished their tests on the arm," Gansley rasped. "According to their results . . ." He passed a hand over his forehead and slumped into a chair. He didn't need to finish his sentence.

Nesbitt snarled. "Well, we all really knew it, didn't we?!"

"We were hoping it wasn't true!" Crump snapped back.

Johnson was also badly shaken, but when he took in Gansley's appearance, something else worrisome occurred to him and he hurried over. "Gansley, are you alright?!" he exclaimed.

Crump stiffened. He hadn't stopped to think, but all of this stress and horror could very easily be pushing Gansley towards a heart attack. Maybe that was even what Cove intended. He probably knew about Gansley's heart problems.

"None of us are alright," Gansley growled.

"Yes, but your heart . . . !" Johnson bent and placed a hand over Gansley's heart, trying to tell whether the heartbeat was irregular.

Gansley let him. "Strangely enough, I haven't had any trouble with my heart since we were brought back from the dead by that angel," he said.

Nesbitt raised an eyebrow. "You think you were healed?"

"I don't know," Gansley said. "I did have a doctor's appointment and he couldn't find anything wrong. . . . But blast it, it's Lector we need to worry about right now!"

Johnson straightened. "Cove wouldn't know you've been healed," he said. "Maybe he's hoping to drive you to your death by doing this to Lector!"

"He's driving himself to his own death," Gansley snarled. He grabbed his cane. "Let's go look for Lector again. It's all we can do."

No one disagreed, even though it seemed a hopeless cause. They all followed him to the door.

Crump looked sick as the telephone call's meaning really started to sink in. "Poor Lector. . . . He really is being . . ." He swallowed hard.

"If he's still alive, there's some hope," Gansley growled. "There are incredible prosthetics these days. . . ." He threw the front door open and stormed onto the porch.

"But to lose so much of himself," Johnson whispered in horror.

"That's why we have to find him before he loses any more!" Gansley screamed. He stumbled down the steps, nearly falling more than once.

"Be careful!" Nesbitt suddenly boomed. "Even if your heart's okay now, your legs aren't!"

"Bah!" Gansley snapped back. He went to the limousine and practically wrenched the door open, not bothering to wait for the chauffeur.

"Hey, wait!" Crump exclaimed. "You're in no condition to drive!" He ran over. "You didn't let Lector drive in New Orleans when he was so upset about his dad. Don't you try driving when you're like this!"

Gansley whipped to look at him with dangerous, flashing eyes. But he knew Crump was right. Snarling, he went around to the passenger side.

Crump exhaled sharply and climbed into the driver's seat. "Look, I know you're feeling like this is your fault, but it's not," he said. "You couldn't have known that creep would flip and do something like this."

"I knew he was dangerous," Gansley retorted. "That was why I fired him!"

"And you knew he needed treatment, but all you could do was recommend it. You couldn't make him use it," Crump said. He waited while Johnson and Nesbitt drove out first in their cars. Then he started to back out of the driveway.

"Martin Cove is doing this to get at me," Gansley said. "He's taking Lector apart because of me!" He slammed his hand on the inside of the door. "Lector is suffering . . . because of me. . . ."

Crump's heart twisted as he heard the anger give way to utter helplessness. "You had to fire that creep," he said quietly. "You were thinking about the safety of all the other employees. Lector is suffering because Martin Cove is a sadistic, twisted nut. You know he'd never blame you."

". . . I know," Gansley finally agreed. "But I feel so helpless. . . ."

"Me too," Crump whispered.

xxxx

Nesbitt was tightly clutching the steering wheel of his car, his knuckles white. It probably hadn't been a good idea for him to try driving any more than it had been for Gansley to do so. He was so tense at the moment that he feared the slightest grievance might completely set him off. Presently he pulled over to the curb, shaking, and just sat there as he tried his hardest to calm down. It really seemed an impossible task.

Lector was being mutilated. . . . Now they knew it for certain. Nesbitt really didn't believe Lector was still alive, but regardless, finding out what was happening to him was a horrific blow. When he thought of some sadistic madman laughing like a maniac and desecrating his friend's body, he just felt like screaming and pounding on someone—maybe anyone who pushed the wrong buttons for him right now. Lector had been right; Nesbitt could try to pretend to be robotic and emotionless, but in actuality he was anything but. He had been trying so hard not to break during this catastrophe, but he didn't know how much longer he could put up such a front.

"Nesbitt?"

He looked up with a start. Seto Kaiba, of all people, had pulled up alongside his vehicle and was frowning at him. Did he actually look . . . concerned?

Nesbitt rolled down the window. Seto leaned out of his, his eyes narrowed. "You found out something, didn't you."

Nesbitt looked away. "The police lab called back. . . . The arm is Lector's. No doubt the foot is too."

Seto snarled. "And when was I going to be informed of this? Mokuba is there with him while this is going on!"

Nesbitt slammed his hand on the steering wheel, accidentally setting off the horn. "Mokuba isn't being cut to pieces!" he screamed.

"No, but if he's watching, he's being tortured the same as you people are!" Seto shot back. "And you can bet his spirit is being cut to pieces!"

Nesbitt trembled. Out of all of them, he still struggled the most with his feelings towards Seto. This wasn't helping.

Seto clenched his teeth. "I'm sorry about Lector, whether you believe that or not. I don't want to see him treated cruelly like this. But naturally I'm worried mostly for Mokuba, just as you're worried mostly for Lector."

"I know." Nesbitt still wouldn't look at him. It made logical sense. But his best friend was being taken apart and they were all helpless to stop it. It was so tempting to just leap out of the car and hit Seto or pound him into the pavement, taking out all of his bottled-up emotions on the former boss he still didn't like. . . . But another part of him really didn't want to; Seto was an ally now. Maybe if he didn't look, he could fight off those feelings. . . .

"We've gone through just about everywhere in town," Seto said. "We need to start branching out to the surrounding area. They have to be nearby, if Cove is coming to hand-deliver his sick packages."

"That's what we're going to do," Nesbitt growled.

"Can you drive in your state?" Seto sounded skeptical at best.

"Yes, I can drive!" Nesbitt snapped. "And now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to looking!" He revved the engine and sped off without another word.

Seto glowered after him. "You'd better not get into a car wreck, Nesbitt," he muttered before rolling up the window again.

xxxx

Johnson wasn't faring a whole lot better. He wasn't teetering on the edge of violence, but his smooth demeanor had certainly been torn away—not that it hadn't already crumbled. He hadn't really been able to pull himself together since the delivery of the first note and package.

It was strange; as a lawyer he had seen all manner of gory and grotesque images on his studies and occasionally on his cases, but he had never batted an eye. He hadn't ever quite reached the point of being able to examine gruesome photographs or documents over food, but he certainly hadn't been brought to the point of being physically ill over them. Yet that first sight of the severed arm and the very thought that it was Lector's had left him unable to hold anything down. At least he had made it to the bathroom first, although he knew all of the others were aware of what he had been doing. Somehow it didn't humiliate him, as he had thought it might.

He hadn't had the same extreme reaction over the next delivery. Maybe he had been trying to build up immunity to it, or maybe he had been trying to tell himself it really wasn't Lector's. But now they knew the arm was, and later tests would likely bring the same results for the foot. First he had panicked over Gansley's health. Then they had all run out, heartsick and agonized and desperate to find their loved one. Now he was alone, with his thoughts really sinking in that Lector was being hurt in such a sadistic way. If he was possibly still alive, he would never be the same. Johnson had read countless accounts of people who emotionally fell apart over losing parts of their body. Lector would likely try to be dignified about it, but Johnson was sure it would tear him up inside.

And if he wasn't alive. . . .

Johnson pulled over to the curb and slumped over the steering wheel in utter anguish. Brought to tears twice in as many days, after not having cried since childhood. . . .

At least, he supposed as he drew a shaking breath and straightened up moments later, it was better than throwing up again.

xxxx

Lector didn't know how long he had been unconscious when he finally felt awareness slipping over him again. He also wasn't sure that it was a welcome feeling. "Oh. . . ." Pain shot through his body and he hissed, abandoning his idea of moving.

Mokuba jumped. "Lector?!"

Lector looked up. Mokuba was standing over him, his bandanna damp with water from the sink. "Mokuba," he mumbled. "You're . . . really here?"

"Of course I'm really here," Mokuba said in disbelief.

"Lately I find myself wondering, what's the dream and what's reality?" Lector said. "I know what seems to be real is that you're here with me, and any time my mind goes fuzzy is most likely when I'm being drugged. I feel like I'm coming out of being drugged now. But what if I've got it backwards? What if my mind is playing tricks on me and you're not really here?" He held up his right arm. "What if I'm only imagining that my arm is still intact? Maybe he really did cut it off, like he said he did. . . ."

Mokuba stared at him. "Cut off your arm?! What are you talking about?!"

"That's what he said he did—he cut my arm off and sent it to Gansley," Lector mumbled. "Then he cut my foot off. . . . I was limping last night . . . maybe that's why. . . ."

A horrified chill went up Mokuba's spine. He wasn't sure what was worse: the thought of severed limbs really being sent to their loved ones, or Lector believing his limbs were being sent. "Lector . . . please don't say that!" he begged. "I'm here . . . and so's your arm and your foot! He didn't cut them off!"

"If you're really here, then that's true," Lector mused. "But if you're a phantom of my mind, you're probably only saying what I want to hear."

"I'm not just saying it!" Mokuba wailed. "Lector . . . I don't know what I'll do if you stop believing in me. . . ."

Lector was silent.

Mokuba's heart pounded in his ears. Maybe Cove wasn't just telling Lector of how the others were suffering. Maybe he was also trying to plant subliminal suggestions that Mokuba wasn't really there. And maybe under the influence of the drugs, Lector was starting to believe it.

At last Lector spoke again, seeming more coherent. "Mokuba . . . I hoped you'd got away. . . ."

"I couldn't leave you here like this," Mokuba whispered.

"No," Lector sighed, though he had to admit he was grateful. "I suppose you couldn't."

"Are you feeling any better now?" Mokuba asked. "I mean, do you know I'm really here again?"

Lector gave him a strange look. "Of course I know it. . . ."

This only scared Mokuba more, not less. "You don't remember," he gasped.

"Remember what?" Lector frowned.

"You thought maybe I'm not real," Mokuba said. He bit his lip. "Maybe it was just what was left of the drug talking. I hope so. . . ."

Lector was concerned now. "Mokuba, I am so sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to say anything to frighten you. . . ."

"You couldn't help it," Mokuba said, shaking his head. "It was all him.

"What'd he do it for?!" he suddenly sobbed. "There wasn't any reason! There wasn't . . ."

"Just to show his power," Lector said bitterly. "And maybe to humiliate me. . . . It's not so easy to overpower me in a fair fight, but he doesn't know the meaning of fair."

"And the stuff he said. . . . I couldn't hear it all, but he was liking how heartbroken your friends must be. . . ."

Lector's eyes steeled with resolve. "We have to get out of here," he said.

"Yeah, but . . . there's not a way," Mokuba protested.

"Maybe there is now. Just before he drugged me, I slipped this out of his pocket." Lector held up a long nail.

". . . I don't even want to know why he was carrying that," Mokuba said.

"Try picking the lock with it," Lector said, handing it to him. "I'll try to get up in a minute."

"You just rest," Mokuba insisted as he took the object to the door.

It was difficult to fit the nail in the lock at all, and then when it was in, difficult to get it to work like a lock-pick. But Mokuba was determined, and he scowled as he fought with the object to make it work the way he wanted it to. The nail fell from his hands several times during the battle, finally rolling far enough away that Mokuba couldn't reach through the bars and get it back. He turned away, his shoulders slumping.

"You tried your best," Lector insisted. "It wasn't ever going to work."

"Maybe it would have, if you'd done it," Mokuba muttered. "Things like that don't work for me."

"Now, that's not true," Lector scolded. "You got away from Pegasus and from the Rare Hunters. And you saved Marik when he was locked in my father's warehouse."

Mokuba trudged back to the bed and sank down on the edge. "I couldn't stay away from Pegasus," he said. "I got caught again and then he took my soul."

Lector went stiff. "He did what?!"

Mokuba turned to look at him. "You didn't know?"

Lector's tan skin had gone pale. "No. . . . I had no idea. I was angry enough as it was when I found out you were a prisoner in the dungeon and not being treated like a guest. If I had known that Pegasus had done something like _that_. . . ." He shook his head. He wasn't sure what he would have done.

Worry flickered through Mokuba's eyes. Something newly stressful like this could make Lector even more worse off than he currently was. He laid a hand on the man's shoulder. "It's all over now, Lector," he soothed. "I'm okay. . . ."

Lector just groaned and looked away, covering his eyes with a hand. "I knew partnering with Pegasus was a bad idea as soon as he wanted to take you. None of us wanted anyone hurt then. But Pegasus didn't care. He kidnapped you and his men tried to kill Seto. Now to find out he did something like _this . . . !_"

"Lector!" Mokuba wailed. "I'm okay now. Everything's over." He took Lector's free hand and squeezed as tightly as he dared. "Lector, please. . . . Don't make yourself sick over this. . . . I . . . I'll blame myself for it. I'm the one who brought it up. I didn't realize. . . . I thought you knew. . . ."

Lector started. He took his hand away from his eyes, sickened now to realize how distressed his behavior was probably making Mokuba. "Alright," he said. "I'll try to calm down. Mokuba, it isn't your fault. None of these things are your fault!"

"I couldn't even help you," Mokuba said bitterly. "I was right here and I couldn't do anything. I just got dumped in the other cell!"

"You did help me, Mokuba," Lector said. "I knew I needed to be strong for you, so I fought hard not to break. Honestly, I would have lasted a lot longer. Cove was getting angry with me and finally just struck me on the head to end it."

Mokuba looked at him in horror. "Oh no. . . ."

"I'm alright," Lector said. "If I'm not going to get upset about what Pegasus did to you, then you need to stay calm about this."

Mokuba bit his lip but finally nodded. "Okay. . . ."

"I know whatever he was saying was horrible, but I wish I could remember it," Lector frowned. "He was telling me what was happening to the others. I need to know. . . ."

"He wasn't talking loud enough for me to hear," Mokuba said regretfully, "but you were sure angry about it. Any time he talked to you, that's when you screamed . . . not when you were getting beat up. . . ." He looked away. He didn't think he should mention what Lector had been saying about Cove sending the Big Four severed limbs and telling them they were Lector's, or that Lector wondered if he really was being mutilated and was blocking it out.

"They're suffering," Lector said in despair. "I know they're suffering and I can't do anything to get back to them and let them know I'm alright . . . !"

"You should just think about resting," Mokuba protested. "You're not alright!"

Outside, the bell in the church tower started ringing.

"It's getting dark," Lector mumbled. He tried to move over on the bed and hissed in pain.

"Don't move, Lector," Mokuba pleaded. "I'll be okay. I'll fall asleep sitting up or lay on the floor or something."

"I don't want you to have to do that," Lector retorted. Anyway, he didn't really want to be conquered by his injuries. He should be able to make himself move. . . . But after another attempt, he gave up. Maybe when Mokuba was actually ready to sleep, he could try again.

Mokuba looked uneasily toward the window. He wanted to think about something, anything other than the messed-up town they were in, or the possibility that the hanging shadow would be back tonight. ". . . How long have you known the other guys?" he asked.

"Oh . . . a long time." Lector was slightly surprised by the query, but at the same time, he appreciated the diversion. "I've known Crump the longest. . . . I wasn't even Gozaburo's assistant at that time. I hired him when I was impressed by his accounting skills. He was always . . . unusual, and I can't say we always got along, but he liked me and often wanted to talk to me, and somehow we ended up good friends. I tried not to make enemies on my way up the corporate ladder, and I had quite a few acquaintances, but I wouldn't say I had many actual friends until then."

"I was never really sure what to make of Crump," Mokuba admitted.

"Neither were a lot of people," Lector said. "He loved penguins . . . decorated his cubicle with figures and small stuffed animals . . . and then he'd have a calendar with women in bathing suits."

Mokuba snorted. "He never seemed that friendly either. . . ."

"It depended on who you were," Lector said. "I confess I don't really know why he liked me. There were those who thought he was just trying to butter me up so I'd keep promoting him. Maybe I entertained that thought at first, but soon I realized he genuinely wanted a friend."

Mokuba smiled a bit. "That's nice. . . ."

"Then Nesbitt came along, several years younger than me and eager to get into the technology department. I was Gozaburo's assistant by then. We both liked his designs and he quickly got into a position of power in his department. Nesbitt and I did not particularly care for each other, however. He knew better than to pick fights with me since I was his superior, but I could always tell when he was frustrated with me. I was exasperated with him on occasion as well; he always had an impulsive streak. At times I had to point out an error he'd made. He'd take it, but he always hated it."

"He sure likes you now," Mokuba said.

"I don't think that really came to be until we both became members of the board of directors," Lector said. "We were on equal ground then, and we started having our infamous little spats." He paused. "I don't fully know when he came to care about me. For my part, it was very gradual. I came to see beyond the reckless fool and even the visionary designer to the lonely man who wanted understanding and friendship. He would never have admitted to those desires, but when I realized and extended them to him, he occasionally let down his defenses towards me. But it was also just how closely we worked together. You can't work that closely with someone and not come to care about them . . . if you don't end up hating them. That work formed a bond of mutual trust . . . and love."

"And that's awesome," Mokuba said. "You guys are such great friends.

"And Gansley and Johnson joined together, I remember that," he continued.

"Yes, Johnson was Gansley's lawyer at one of Gansley's businesses. He won a highly publicized case for Gansley and Gozaburo was intrigued. He had me try to recruit them both for KaibaCorp. Of course, it worked."

"How did you get along with them?" Mokuba wondered.

"Gansley was always a consummate professional," Lector said. "He respected my position of power even as he planned on how to achieve something on the same level, if not higher. I in turn respected him as a very knowledgeable businessman. I don't entirely like to say this, as we're not that far apart in age, but sometimes I saw him somewhat as a father figure."

"You probably did even more after your dad disowned you," Mokuba said softly.

"Yes," Lector agreed. "Then there was Johnson, always smooth and smug and arrogant. He never lost his composure. I sometimes found myself wondering if there was really any more to him than the clever lawyer. But he loved us all more deeply than we realized for a long time. He and Crump . . . they were the ones always inviting the rest of us to their houses, or to Johnson's cabin here in the canyons. At first it was just business associates enjoying a little time off together, but then I started to realize that despite our working together every day, we all honestly wanted to be with each other when we weren't working." Anguish passed through his eyes. "I can't stand to think of what they all must be thinking right now. . . ."

"You guys all have something really special," Mokuba said, wanting to steer conversation away from the Big Four's current feelings. "Seto and I were sure upset when you started scheming, and of course we still don't like what you did, but I guess it is pretty meaningful that none of you started trying to backstab each other. You all wanted each other to succeed."

"Gansley would say it was only the most logical business decision to stay united," Lector said, "but none of us ever considered getting ahead without the others. It had to be all of us."

"I'm glad," Mokuba said. "So you all did have _some_ honor, and that's probably helped you all want to change your lives around."

"I would say it's more our respect and love for each other . . . and the logical realization that we were all stuck in a rut," Lector remarked.

"Well, whatever, it's great." Mokuba smiled, and half without thinking, he laid down on the edge of the bed. "I missed you a lot, Lector. I'm so glad you're back."

"So am I," Lector mused. He managed to turn onto his side and gently brought an arm around Mokuba to keep him from falling off the bed. He caught sight of the silhouette hanging from the ceiling, but he said nothing. Mokuba was dozing; there was no need to torture him with the news that the phantom was back.

Mokuba _was_ really there, wasn't he?

Of course he was, Lector told himself. He had to be. He couldn't be losing his mind so seriously as to imagine an innocent boy being kidnapped along with him, could he?

He looked down at his right arm, draped protectively around the sleeping child. Surely he couldn't also imagine this. . . .

What if he could, though? What if he was alone and his arm and foot were gone and he couldn't deal with it or the thought that the other men were being tormented with them, so he was imagining his body still whole and Mokuba there with him as a coping mechanism?

Troubled, he shuddered and sank deeper into the pillow.

_Oh please, God, no._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

It was in the middle of the night when Lector suddenly awakened for some unknown reason. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, it became obvious that something was different . . . something very important. He started to rise, gritting his teeth against the pain of the contusions.

Mokuba stirred, feeling the mattress move under him. "What's going on, Lector?" he mumbled.

"The cell door is open," Lector urgently told him, "and Cove doesn't seem to be around."

That jerked Mokuba upright. "Then how'd it get open?!"

"I don't know, but we need to take advantage of it right now," Lector replied urgently. "Who knows how long it'll stay open." He started to push himself off the bed.

Mokuba scrambled off to give him space. "Can you really manage?!" he exclaimed in concern. "You're hurt. . . ."

Lector grimaced, holding a hand to his ribs. "I have to be able to manage," he insisted. "We have to take this chance to leave."

Mokuba bit his lip. "But . . . if Cove didn't leave the door open, doesn't that mean the ghosts probably did it?" he worried. "They wouldn't have done it for any good reason."

"I know," Lector sighed. "But we still have to try, Mokuba."

"Okay." Still worried, Mokuba took Lector's hand and gripped it tightly as Lector limped through the open door while holding on to the bars. No one stopped them, and Lector tried to increase his speed as much as possible to get them to the front door. He grabbed at the knob, turning it and flinging the door wide. Outside, Cooperstown was well-lit and completely silent, eerie in its stillness.

"Alright." Lector drew a deep breath and stepped out on the wooden sidewalk in front of the jail.

Mokuba shuddered while gazing at their surroundings. This was a quietly terrifying place to be roaming at night. There was always an unsettling feeling in the jail, no matter the time of day, and coming out of there into the town increased that feeling an hundredfold. His heart gathered speed and he prayed frantically in his mind for safe passage.

"What do we do if we make it out of here?" he wondered.

"We try to get to Johnson's cabin," Lector said. "There's a telephone there; we can call for help."

"Sounds good." But Mokuba had the horrible feeling that they might not make it there. Did Cove really leave them and go back to town or wherever he was staying every night? He had to leave to deliver the packages, if the things he had whispered to Lector were really what he was doing, but what about after that? Did he come back here? And even if he wasn't around, would the ghosts really let them leave?

A strange little motor nearly sent him jumping sky-high. He stared, eyes wide, as a small wind-up duck toy waddled out from around a barrel and over to them. Just before it would have walked into Mokuba's foot, it stopped.

"Pay no attention to it, Mokuba," Lector insisted. "Just keep walking. Don't be pulled in by the town's tricks."

"I sure don't want to be," Mokuba whispered. "But . . . it's so sad. . . . So creepy. I still don't get why the kids were cursed too, even if the adults were acting rotten. And . . . I don't know where they all went. . . ."

"Nor does anyone," Lector said. "Sometimes I wonder if they never really left."

Mokuba gulped. "I want out of here. . . ."

Lector desperately tried to ensure that would be possible. He clenched his teeth, forcing his body on despite the increasing levels of pain. He had to get them out. . . . They couldn't stay here another minute. . . .

The school bell started ringing without warning, shocking both prisoners. Then there were footprints forming in the dirt near the sidewalk, with no one visible to have made them.

"We're busted!" Mokuba yelped. "Come on, Lector, we've gotta go faster!"

Lector didn't know how he would. But he gave it his best effort, picking up the pace as fast as he could go without lifting Mokuba in his arms, something else he wasn't sure he could do at the moment. But as the invisible footsteps grew louder and more pronounced, he finally gave in, hauling Mokuba up as he gritted his teeth against the pain. He ran until he tripped over something in their path and went sprawling forward, Mokuba flying out of his arms with a cry.

"What was that?!" Mokuba exclaimed. "Lector, are you okay?!"

Cove appeared out of nowhere, hauling Mokuba up even as he struggled. "You're both so bad, trying to escape," he sneered. He walked over, kicking Lector in the ribs. "I'd say we're just going to have to . . . up the punishment. Don't you?"

"Leave him alone!" Mokuba screamed. "You've done enough!"

Lector hissed, getting to his hands and knees. "Put the boy down," he ordered. "You've got no cause to harm him!"

"What fun would it be if everything needed a cause to work?" Cove taunted. "Anyway, he's Seto Kaiba's brother. That's more than enough reason there, just as you being Mr. Gansley's friend is more than enough reason to hurt you." Without warning he punched Mokuba, sending the child into unconsciousness. "And I think we're going to up the ante this time. I can't have you thinking you can leave my custody without suffering for it."

Lector stared at the limp child in outrage before looking back to Cove. "This is plenty of punishment right here!" he snapped. "What else do you have in mind?!" He started pulling himself to his feet, being careful of the coiled jumprope he now saw had tripped him.

Cove grabbed Lector's left hand, wrenching it up above his head. "Oh . . . I'm sure we can find something appropriate," he smiled. He began to twist it unbearably.

xxxx

A third package arrived later on the third afternoon—a hand.

It was then that Johnson broke down right in front of all the others.

"It's obvious he's dead!" he sobbed. "Cove's cutting him to pieces and sending us the parts! Now both his hands are gone! Can you imagine him being restrained long enough to do this over and over?!"

They couldn't. Lector was a big man; it would take several people to restrain him.

"At least we have to find what's left," Nesbitt snarled.

"We're going to," Crump vowed. "We won't leave . . . any of him . . . with Cove. . . ." He trailed off with a hiccup. He was trying so hard not to think about this enough to fall apart. Or maybe it was that it was such a nightmare, he still didn't believe it was real.

Gansley was silent. Normally he was the one in control, but now he was just sitting in a chair, staring at the box. The second package had brought rage, but this time he couldn't even seem to move.

"Gansley?!" Crump looked to him in deep concern.

Finally Gansley stirred. He sobbed uncontrollably, slumping forward in the chair.

Tears pricked Crump's eyes now too, both because of the horror and because of seeing such a strong man break. He didn't know what to say. Instead, he just hugged Gansley from behind and let himself cry as well.

By now Nesbitt was the only one who hadn't broke down in tears to some extent. He still didn't look like he would. But he was tightly clenching a fist, his eyes flaming with pain and anguish and rage.

xxxx

"Lector?! _Lector?!_ Come on, you've gotta wake up! Please, please wake up. . . ."

Lector stirred to the sound of Mokuba's panic-stricken and tearful voice. "I'm awake," he mumbled. He tried to force his eyes open. What had happened? Why couldn't he remember? An attempt to move his left arm across the floor sent pain shooting all the way up to his shoulder. He stopped trying.

Mokuba was kneeling at his side, tears splashing down his face and onto the knees of his jeans. "That creep," he said. "I don't know what he did during the night, but I woke up with him beating you again! I tried to stop him, but I couldn't, and then you woke up but you were drugged again and he kept threatening you about the others and beating you. . . . I couldn't make him stop. . . . I couldn't. . . . And you couldn't move because he'd tied you down again so you couldn't fight back and . . ." He sobbed.

Lector finally managed to raise his left arm despite the pain. "Mokuba, I'm going to be alright," he soothed. "Just give me a few minutes and I'll get up."

Mokuba shook his head. "No," he choked out. "No, you're too hurt. Lector . . . !"

"Too hurt?" Lector groaned, blearily looking down at himself. He had been stripped to the waist, revealing cruel bruises and red marks across his torso. He had to admit, moving was not pleasant. But neither was laying on the floor. "I need to get on the bed, Mokuba," he said. "Can you help me?"

"Y-Yeah. . . ." Mokuba took Lector's arm, trying to help ease him up enough that he could get onto the bed next to them. It was difficult, but at last Lector managed to pull himself up to the thin mattress and sink down on it.

"Oh. . . ." He groaned, closing his eyes.

"Lector?!" Mokuba sat on the edge of the bed. "You're going to stay with me, aren't you?!"

Lector managed to open his eyes again. "Yes, Mokuba. I can stay awake. I just need to rest. . . ."

Relieved, Mokuba got up and went to the old sink, pumping water on his bandanna. Lector seemed more normal again now. Hopefully he wouldn't slip into one of those odd states again. . . . Mokuba came back, gently brushing the wet bandanna across Lector's face and chest. "I'm so sorry," he choked out. "I couldn't help you. . . ."

"It helps me to have you here, Mokuba," Lector said firmly. "I wish you weren't trapped with me, but I appreciate the company."

". . . If you were alone when all those spooky things happened, would you be scared?" Mokuba wondered. "I know Seto wouldn't be . . . or at least, he'd say he wasn't. . . . But I could never not be scared. . . ."

"Only a fool wouldn't be scared by some of what's been going on," Lector muttered. Louder he said, "Mokuba, it scares me whether I'm alone or not. It scared me when I was here with the others."

"You haven't shown it," Mokuba said.

"Not everyone displays their fear for all to see, as Mr. Wheeler does when he's up against the supernatural," Lector said.

"Yeah, I guess not. . . ." Mokuba blinked as he looked at Lector's right upper arm just below the shoulder. "Lector . . . how did you get this big scar across your arm?"

Lector looked away. "My older sister's oldest children," he said.

Mokuba's jaw dropped. "No way! They hurt you like that?! Lector, that scar goes all across your arm!"

"I know what it looks like." Realizing he sounded harsh, Lector sighed and looked apologetically at the boy. "Adele's youngest boy, Gabriel, is the complete opposite of her older children Jean and Caliste. They were holy terrors. Nobody could control them. They sent more than one baby-sitter to the hospital."

"Including you," Mokuba realized in sickened horror.

"Unfortunately so." Lector wearily closed his eyes. "They were doing some foolhardy stunt and I was trying to stop them. I was badly hurt saving them from being hurt, but they didn't care. I wasn't fond of children for years after that."

Mokuba bit his lip. "But . . . you changed about that. . . ."

Lector opened his eyes again and smiled a bit. "Yes . . . when I met you."

"I'm glad," Mokuba said softly.

"So am I," Lector said.

". . . Have you ever forgiven your nephews for what they did to you?" Mokuba suddenly wondered.

Lector sighed. "Oh, I don't know. . . . You know I have trouble with that, Mokuba . . . especially with people who don't even feel sorry for what they've done."

"You're really sure they don't?" Mokuba asked.

"They laughed about it, both when it happened and when I saw them last," Lector said darkly. "They were legal adults by that time. Even Gabriel recognized that they have no feeling for me. Probably not for anyone else, either, judging from their behavior with every other baby-sitter they had."

Mokuba looked down. "I'm really sorry. That's awful."

"My family is mostly a mess," Lector said matter-of-factly. "I don't know how Evangeline and Gabriel managed to turn out relatively normal."

"You too," Mokuba said. "You're not like most of your family. . . ."

"My father has even more trouble forgiving than I do," Lector said, "as we all unfortunately know. And I've done terrible things to people I felt deserved it." He shook his head. "I am like my family, I'm afraid. Johnson and Crump like to say I'm a good person, but I don't know that I really am."

Mokuba stared at him. "Of course you are! You saved my life in New Orleans, even risking your own. And you risked yourself again to save your sister. And . . . you always tried to look out for me, no matter how dark things got in your life. . . ."

"Some of that 'looking out' came at your and your brother's expense," Lector pointed out. "You're not still angry about that?"

"Sure I wish that you hadn't thought Seto was so awful," Mokuba said. "But I can understand why you'd think he was. And now that I know you were really upset because you felt I wasn't being treated right, well . . . it's hard to be really mad about that."

"I tried to take over your brother's body so I could get out of Noa's world," Lector said.

"I think all of you guys were kind of losing it after being stuck there so long," Mokuba said. "You're different now. I'm not mad anymore, at you or any of them."

"Thank you," Lector said quietly. He sank deeper into the pillow.

Mokuba blinked back tears. "We're gonna get out of this," he insisted. "Seto and your friends are going to find us and everything's gonna be okay . . . !"

"I hope so," Lector said. His eyes flickered as a vague memory started to come back to him. "Mokuba, did Cove tell me he's torturing the others by . . . sending body parts to them and telling them they're mine?!"

Mokuba bit his lip and looked away. "Yeah . . . yeah, he did. He kept laughing about that while he was beating you. . . . He . . . he said he had a foolproof way of making them believe it. You got so upset and you were screaming at him and trying so hard to get free. . . . I think you hurt your hand. . . ." He gently took Lector's left hand between his.

Lector curled it around Mokuba's. "We've got to get out of here," he said in despair.

"I know," Mokuba said. "I just . . . don't know how we're going to do that. . . ."

Lector didn't either. He had rarely ever felt so helpless. It was a horrible feeling. And, he sadly knew, their loved ones were feeling it too.

xxxx

A second call from the lab came that evening. Crump hadn't thought Gansley could look any more ragged and sick than he already did, but as he took the phone call and listened, Crump really thought he looked as though he would have a heart attack right there, regardless of whether he had been healed by Kasumi.

"There's no doubt?" he asked. When the lab man repeated the confirmation, Gansley hung up without bothering to say Goodbye.

"Well?!" Nesbitt demanded.

"The other parts tested positive for Lector's DNA as well," Gansley said. "And . . . they're from a dead body." His voice cracked and he covered his eyes with a hand. "Lector is dead."

Crump and Johnson were stunned into silence. They had all feared it, but now to have the horrible confirmation. . . .

Nesbitt suddenly roared. "We still have to find that madman!" he fumed. "We have to get back what's left and see that he's punished for what he's done!"

Gansley looked up, and his eyes were steel. "And we're going to."

xxxx

None of them wanted to call Seto and tell him of the latest development, but Gansley knew it had to be done. He pushed back his crashing feelings and picked up the telephone to make the call.

"What news do you have?!" Seto greeted Gansley without so much as a Hello.

"The latest tests have shown that the parts are from a dead body," Gansley replied, his voice pinched. "Lector is dead."

Seto snarled. "No . . . !"

"It doesn't mean Mokuba is dead as well," Gansley said, thinking how odd it was that he was trying to comfort Seto Kaiba in some fashion.

"Unless Mokuba isn't being kept in the same area as Lector, there's no way he isn't devastated and traumatized by this," Seto retorted. "He wouldn't be able to stand seeing such cruelty happen to anyone, but especially someone he cares about. You know he loves Lector." He gripped the phone tighter. "He even wished Lector could have adopted us instead of Gozaburo."

"Lector told me," Gansley acknowledged.

"And if this madman has killed Lector . . . what does that mean he might do next?" Seto's voice was strained.

"Apparently you haven't been having any better luck than we've had, learning anything helpful," Gansley said.

"I've tracked down a few of the KaibaCorp employees who have moved on from the company after Cove's departure," Seto said. "They all remember his penchant for torture, but can't seem to recall anything else, except for one person I just got through talking with who said he liked haunted places. He said they were a great way to torture susceptible and imaginative people." Now the sound of typing could be heard. "I've been compiling a list of all known haunted locations in the area."

"Good," Gansley said. He froze as a new though occurred to him. "Cooperstown. . . ."

"What?!" Seto snapped. "That supposedly cursed town in the canyons?"

"It certainly falls under the category of possibly haunted," Gansley said. "What goes on there cannot be explained by normal means."

". . . It probably would be a great place to stash a couple of victims," Seto mused. "Alright, we'll check there as well."

"I doubt you'll be able to get there until morning," Gansley said.

"If there's any chance Mokuba is still there, and alive, I'm going in the middle of the night," Seto retorted. "It doesn't look like there's a lot of haunted places in the immediate area, so I'm starting there. If you want to avenge your friend's murder, I suggest you all come with me."

"We'll be there," Gansley said without hesitation. He hung up and turned back to the others. "We have a possible lead."

"You think they're in Cooperstown?" Johnson said uneasily.

"Right now, it seems to be all we have," Gansley said. "Mr. Kaiba found someone who remembers that Cove liked haunted locales."

"Just one more way he's nuts," Crump said with a shudder.

"I'm sure there are normal people who enjoy them . . . somewhere," Johnson said.

"You're all talking about irrelevant things again," Nesbitt growled. "Anything to keep from thinking about the truth. We're not going there to bring Lector home safely. We're going to recover what's left of his body . . . and to make sure his killer pays for what he's done."

"And no matter what we or the justice system can do to him, it won't be good enough," Gansley said darkly. "Nevertheless, we will do it anyway." He grabbed his cane and pushed himself up. "Let's go."

The others followed him outside. Instead of selecting their individual vehicles, they all crowded into Gansley's limousine this time. They wanted to be together for this nightmare.

"When we find Lector, are we even going to be able to bear looking at him?" Johnson wondered. "I mean, just knowing how badly he suffered . . . and that now he's . . ." He adjusted his glasses and looked away.

"We'll only know that when we find him," Gansley replied, his voice still dark and dangerous.

xxxx

Lector had fallen asleep with Mokuba snuggled against him when the sound of the cell door opening startled him back to awareness. It wasn't a mysterious force opening it this time, he saw in disgust. It was Cove.

"What do you want this time?" Lector snapped.

"I've been found out," Cove replied. "We're going to have visitors tonight." He reached for Mokuba. "And I plan to give them a show they'll never forget."

Lector responded by grabbing Cove's wrist and twisting it the way Cove had done to him the previous night. "You'll have to get past me first," he said darkly, "and I don't intend to let that happen."

Cove kicked him hard in the chest. "Still thinking you're such a big man, are you?!" His eyes flashed and he clearly sounded crazed. "I thought I'd taught you better than that by now!"

Mokuba stirred when Lector fell back against the wall with a grunt. "Lector?!" He sat up. "You're not getting him again, you creep!"

Cove moved to slap him. "You too, you little brat?! You're just a child and still you're disrespecting me?!"

Mokuba dodged the blow. "What do you think you've done to even deserve respect?!" he demanded. "You kidnapped us, you keep beating Lector while restraining him so he can't fight back, and you're torturing the people we love!" He glowered. "Obviously you know that if you left Lector free to fight you, he'd whup you in no time flat!"

"Hush, Mokuba," Lector hissed in concern. Something was different about Cove tonight. He had snapped, and Lector was deeply afraid of what he might do to the boy.

"I've asserted my power over you!" Cove screamed, balling his fists and shaking them at the ceiling. "Yes, I've kidnapped you! You're both at my mercy! I've found creative ways to harm Mr. Lector despite him being a far stronger man than I am! And I've raked my fingers through your loved ones' hearts!" Now he held his hands like claws, swiping them through the air. "I've proven that I'm a bigger man than Mr. Gansley or Mr. Kaiba!"

"Mokuba, get out of here," Lector whispered to the boy. The cell door was still wide open and Cove wasn't standing in front of it.

"I can't leave you!" Mokuba whispered back in horror.

"Don't you dare argue with me!" Lector snapped. "I'll hold him off. Get going!"

Mokuba's heart pounded. He didn't want Lector to protect him again. Images of what had happened in New Orleans flashed through his mind. Marik had protected Mokuba and gotten hurt . . . and so had Lector . . . and thanks to Dr. Portman's interference, everyone had thought Lector was dead. He couldn't let that happen again. Maybe another time Lector wouldn't be alright. . . .

But . . . Lector was leaping at Cove now, dragging him to the floor with all that was left of his strength. Mokuba didn't want his sacrifice to be in vain, either. Maybe if he could really get away, he could hide and find a way to help. . . .

Praying he wasn't making a mistake, he ran out the cell door and out of the jail altogether. This time, no one stopped him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

No one knew what to think or expect as they drove into Domino Canyon and towards Cooperstown. The police had learned that someone had seen a car with Lector's license plate being driven into the canyon, heading towards Cooperstown, and they were afraid Gansley and Seto were correct in believing Cove was hiding there with his victims. They were not at all in favor of civilians going there and possibly confronting a madman, but Seto and Marik refused to be stopped and so did the Big Four. The police drew the line at anyone else going as well, much to the others' consternation.

The drive was long and tense and mostly silent. Seto and Marik were desperately praying for Mokuba to be alive while the Big Four no longer had any similar hope for Lector. They were devastated, caught up their memories and fears . . . and in how they wanted to retaliate on Cove. Hatred begets hatred, and they felt very justified in their thoughts after what Cove had done to Lector.

Cooperstown was its usual eerie self, and as the vehicles finally rolled in on the town's Main Street, it was impossible to deny the otherworldly chill. When their headlights captured a crazed Martin Cove, the occupants leaped out to confront him.

"It took you all long enough!" he cackled. "At long last, I've proved I'm the bigger man over all of you businessmen!"

"Where's Mokuba?!" Seto yelled.

"Oh . . . he's around here somewhere," Cove vaguely replied with an unconcerned gesture. "It could be his blood on my hands . . . or Lector's." He held up his hands. Both were red with blood.

Gansley roared. "What more have you done to Lector?!" he screamed.

"I guess I can deliver the next piece to you in person," Cove mocked. "I don't think I'll tell you what I cut off this time. I'll let you be surprised."

Gansley lunged, his cane bared. Instead of stopping him, the rest of the Big Four charged as well.

"You're just doing what he wants!" Marik exclaimed. But he couldn't blame them.

Suddenly Mokuba ran out of nowhere and into Seto's arms. "Seto . . . !"

"Mokuba!" Marik cried.

"I've got you," Seto said, holding the boy close. "Mokuba, what's been happening?! Are you alright?!"

"Seto. . . ." Tears filled Mokuba's eyes and he hugged his brother. He was too shaken to even speak more.

The Big Four, meanwhile, were still swarming on Cove.

"Where is Lector?!" Gansley boomed.

"If you look around, you'll probably find a little of him everywhere!" Cove replied. He drew a gun. "And finally I have my sweetest revenge against you, Mr. Gansley."

At the same instant he fired, Gansley reached into his coat and pulled a gun of his own. His eyes dark and cold, he returned fire as Crump, Johnson, and Nesbitt dragged him to the ground. Cove fell back, a last, gurgling giggle echoing through their ears before he went silent.

"Are you alright?" Nesbitt demanded.

"No." Gansley sat up, replacing the gun in his coat. "That did nothing to take away the emptiness."

"I hope you have a license for that weapon," an officer remarked to him.

"Yes, I do," Gansley retorted, "and it includes permission to carry it concealed. I was sure I would need it."

"If he hadn't fired on you, would you have still drawn on him?" Johnson quietly asked.

"I don't know," Gansley admitted. "I would have wanted to."

"Any of us would have wanted to," Nesbitt said darkly.

They watched as the police approached Cove's motionless body.

"He's dead," the first officer reported. But as he really looked into the lifeless face, he drew back. "It can't be. . . ."

"What?!" Crump yelled.

"This is Ed Rhodes, a friend of one of our lab men," the officer gasped.

"A lab man?!" Gansley grabbed his cane and was pushing himself up in an instant. "His friend didn't by any chance handle the tests on those severed limbs, did he?!"

". . . He sure did," another officer realized.

"And he could have doctored those results?!" Johnson demanded.

"He could have, but don't get your hopes up," the second officer told him. "Remember, the effects that arm came with were definitely your friend's."

"The tests also showed that the limbs were taken from a dead person," a third officer remembered.

"He couldn't be alive," Johnson argued. "He was probably killed before any of this began!"

"Do any of us even want him to be alive in that condition?" Gansley spoke.

Nesbitt couldn't stand it. He ran out ahead, desperately calling. "Lector! Lector, where are you?!" His voice echoed throughout the cold place, always without an answer.

". . . Lector?" Crump finally called, hesitant and heartsick.

One officer was still examining the body. "I think this blood on his hands is his own," he realized. "He's cut in several places."

Mokuba finally looked up, shaking. "Seto . . . Marik. . . ." He reached out a hand to Marik.

Marik took it. "What happened, Mokuba?" he asked. "Do you know where Lector is?"

"Well . . . I did," Mokuba said. "I don't know if he's still there. . . . And I . . . I'm not sure he's okay. . . ." He choked back a sob.

Horror went through Seto's eyes. He didn't even want to try to comprehend what Mokuba had just been through.

"How was he when you last saw him, Mokuba?" Marik quietly asked.

"He was attacking Cove to save me," Mokuba said.

Seto started. "But he was alive?!"

"Yeah," Mokuba nodded.

The Big Four stared at him.

"Where was he?!" Gansley demanded. Hope was rising in his heart again. It was really possible . . . really conceivable . . . that Lector had survived?

"The old jail," Mokuba said.

Johnson ran out after Nesbitt. "Nesbitt! We need to go to the jail!"

It didn't take long for everyone to find the correct building. Crump hesitantly pushed the door open and stepped inside. "Hello?" he quavered. "Lector? Buddy?"

Despite the lack of response, a chill went up his spine. It _felt_ like someone was there. Or maybe what was left of a body. . . .

Gansley pushed past him into the room and advanced farther than Crump had been able to make himself go. Then he went pale. "There's a body in a cell. . . ."

"A cell?!" Crump boomed. He ran over, his heart racing. _"LECTOR!"_

Lector was indeed laying in the cell, facedown and very still.

Johnson came in then, trembling. "It's really . . . what's left of . . ." He swallowed hard. He couldn't bear to see. . . . Lector had really been alive all this time, but . . . was he dead now, killed by Cove in their fight? How could he have really fought Cove very well when he was so seriously hurt from Cove's abominable treatment of him?

Nesbitt ran over. "He's not mutilated," he said in disbelief.

Everyone stared at him.

"Are you sure?" Johnson quavered. "The madman couldn't have . . . pieced parts together and sewn them and . . ." He turned away, holding a hand to his mouth.

"He's whole," Gansley whispered in amazed disbelief. "But . . . is he alive?"

Nesbitt desperately tried to pick the lock. When that failed, he looked until he found the keys and tried them all until he found the right one. He opened it, running in and kneeling next to the body. "Lector?"

Lector had been stripped to the waist, and to Nesbitt's horror and anger, discolored skin in various places across his torso was soon obvious. "He's been beaten, just like the kid said!" he cried.

"But . . . Lector's a big guy," Crump protested. "No one could just _beat_ him!"

"Apparently he did quite a number on Cove, judging from how Cove looked," Gansley said. "But some of these bruises don't look like they just happened. . . ."

Nesbitt was on fire. "Cove restrained him," he snarled.

"Yes," Gansley said darkly. "Look at the marks on his wrists! He was tightly held down so he couldn't fight back! That's most likely the only reason why Cove walked away from their fight—because Lector was already badly hurt from these prior beatings and couldn't fight for long! But Nesbitt, is he alive?!"

Gingerly Nesbitt reached out a hand, feeling across Lector's neck and back to make sure they weren't broken before gently turning him over. Lector fell limply into place and Nesbitt laid his hand on the cruelly bruised chest. "I can feel his heart beating," he said in amazement. "He's breathing. . . ." They had all thought Lector was dead after the second call from the lab. But . . . he wasn't. . . .

An immense burden lifted from Gansley's shoulders and joy filled his heart. "He's alive," he whispered. All of the Hell they had all gone through, including Lector, but he had made it through. . . .

Crump whooped for joy, glomping a shocked Johnson. "He's alive!"

Johnson was still having trouble grasping it. He adjusted his glasses with a shaking hand. "Is anything broken? We need to get him out of there. . . ."

Now Nesbitt checked Lector's limbs, marveling that they were still there as he touched each one. "Nothing's broken," he said in relief. "Crump, help me move him!"

Lector suddenly started, semi-conscious, and tried to bat Nesbitt away. "Get . . . away from me," he rasped. "Get away. . . ."

Nesbitt grabbed the flailing hand. "Lector, it's us!" he exclaimed. "You're safe!"

"Safe . . . ?" Lector slowly opened his eyes, looking as disbelieving as they had felt. The utter joy that swept across his features as he focused left all of them deeply moved. "Nesbitt. . . ."

"Yeah." Nesbitt gently lifted Lector's upper body into his arms. "We have to get you out of here. Can you move?"

"I . . . yes." Lector stumbled, trying to stand. He gripped Nesbitt for balance and the others rushed to help steady him. "Where's Mokuba?!"

"He's safe," Gansley assured him. "He's with his brother and the Ishtar boy."

Lector relaxed. "Thank God. . . ."

"We thought you were in pieces, Buddy," Crump said, his joy coming through in full force. "Or dead, and then both. . . ."

"And we weren't sure what was worse," Johnson said.

"I am so sorry," Lector said, anguish slipping into his voice. "That demon told me what he was making you think. I never stopped trying to get away . . . but I never could. . . ."

"But you're safe with us now," Gansley said, his voice filled with emotion. "That's all we wanted." That madman had done all this just to get at him. He had felt so horrible all through this nightmare because of that, although of course he would have been upset in any case. He reached out, taking Lector in his arms. "We can all go home. . . ."

Lector clutched at him, his hands trembling. "Home. . . . With my friends . . . my family. . . ." He looked to all of them.

Crump and Johnson embraced him too, being careful of the bruises. "You're . . . really all here," Johnson whispered in awe. "You weren't cut up. . . ." He shuddered, violently.

"No, I wasn't," Lector told him, "although sometimes when I was being restrained and drugged, it felt like I was missing limbs. . . . And I started wondering in my darkest moments if I was only imagining that I was whole. . . ."

"But you're all attached," Crump whispered. He stared at Lector's arm and hands, as if to reassure himself that they were indeed his limbs and that they weren't someone else's, sewn onto him in some freakish Frankenstein experiment.

"All attached," Lector agreed.

As the others pulled back, Nesbitt suddenly charged in. Lector hadn't really expected further physical contact from him, but now Nesbitt just clutched him close, not speaking. Then he was outright sobbing—crying out of joy and relief and out of all the anguish he had carried through these Hellish days. It was over. It was finally over, and Lector was home. He had wanted that outcome more than anything, as had they all, but they had been sure they would not get it.

Stunned, Lector returned the embrace, holding his friend close. They all had suffered so much because of their love for him, and he had suffered knowing they were suffering and being unable to get back to them. He hadn't cried on many occasions where he might have done so, but he felt tears coming now.

There was no need for words.

"Lector!"

Mokuba was running in as Lector and Nesbitt stepped aside, his eyes bright and joyous. He reached for Lector and the man pulled him close. "I'm so glad Cove didn't get you again. . . ."

"I'm so glad you're alive," Mokuba whispered.

Everyone else wholeheartedly agreed with those sentiments.

xxxx

The mood going back down the canyon was so much different. Mokuba was dozing snuggled between Seto and Marik. Lector was returning with his friends, but not as a corpse as they had feared.

Gansley took a phone call and hung up within a few minutes. "Police officers in the city arrested the lab man," he announced. "He confessed that Cove had been his friend for some time, using the alias Ed Rhodes, and that he came to him asking for his help in faking the abominable stunt with the severed body parts. Rhodes mutilated corpses in the morgue and lied about the lab results, claiming they were Lector's."

Everyone was outraged.

"He had better be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Johnson snarled.

"We'll make sure of that," Gansley growled. "He's just as bad as Cove or he wouldn't have gone along with it."

"If only we could have learned more from the person who brought the boxes," Johnson lamented. "We might have found you sooner. . . ."

"What happened about that anyway?" Lector frowned. "Did he really deliver them in person?"

"We thought he was, and the police were staking out the house, but it ended up that he was using messenger services," Nesbitt said gruffly. "The poor kids didn't have any idea what they were delivering. And they couldn't offer much help about Cove. From the description of the person who handed the stuff to them, it might have been the lab man instead."

Lector raised an eyebrow. "Didn't they watch the news? How could they have not at least suspected what was going on by the second or third package?"

"Struggling college kids don't have much time for news," Nesbitt grunted. "And he used a different place every time, just in case they did start getting wise."

"He was very intelligent, but he used it for all the wrong reasons," Gansley said darkly.

"I can't imagine how all of you have suffered," Lector said, anger filling his voice. "I am so sorry."

"You suffered too," Crump said. "Look at you—you're all beat up!"

"I'll be alright with some rest," Lector said. "Cove must have studied mob-style beatings. He knew just how to do it without breaking anything."

"Bruises can be very painful," Johnson frowned.

"I know," Lector winced.

"And Mokuba said you were drugged and told about what Cove was doing to us," Gansley said.

"Not to mention you said you started to wonder if you really were missing limbs," Johnson said with a shudder.

"I did," Lector said. "I must have frightened Mokuba terribly." He shook his head. "He'll probably have nightmares for a long time."

"He won't be the only one," Crump said. "I bet you will . . . and I know _we_ will. We haven't had a good night's sleep since this mess started!"

"But at least now, when we wake up, we'll be emerging into a world that's been set right, instead of just remaining in our nightmare constantly," Gansley said.

Everyone agreed.

"Welcome home, Buddy," Crump smiled, laying a hand on Lector's shoulder.

Lector reached up and gripped it. It was so amazing to be going home.

xxxx

Mokuba screamed, starting out of a nightmare and back into reality.

"Mokuba! Mokuba, it's alright. It's not real."

He looked up, blinking as he focused on Seto. Marik too was looking down at him in concern. The car moved under them, still headed back down the canyon.

"Seto . . . Marik . . . I feel really stupid," Mokuba mumbled.

"Don't," Seto retorted. "What happened would be more than enough to upset anyone."

"Some people might never recover from it," Marik agreed. "But I know you're strong enough that you will."

Mokuba looked away. "I hope so. . . . It was Lector who really suffered, though."

"Both of you did," Seto insisted. "It couldn't have been easy for you, knowing he was being hurt and not being able to help him."

"It was awful," Mokuba admitted. "He was being beat up so bad, but he didn't even cry out until he was tortured about what his friends were feeling. I was put in the next cell so I couldn't stop it, but I heard every time that creep hit him or kicked him. . . ."

Seto and Marik exchanged a sickened look.

"He said it helped him just for me to be there, but I don't see how I really did much of anything to help," Mokuba continued. "I was just something else for him to have to worry about."

"If Lector said you helped him, Mokuba, then you did," Seto said. "Just being there for someone can be the greatest help of all."

"That's right," Marik agreed. "You can't imagine how much it helped me just for Rishid to be there in my darkest moments."

Mokuba tried to smile a bit. "Well . . . maybe I did help, then. . . ."

"You can count on it," Seto said firmly.

xxxx

Lector just wanted to go home to rest, but he consented to an examination at the KaibaCorp Infirmary first. Everyone was relieved when he was proclaimed safe to go home.

It was an unspoken agreement that the rest of the Big Five would stay with him that night. They had stayed together all through the nightmare, and now that Lector was safely with them, they wanted to make sure he was alright. Lector wouldn't admit it, but he really wanted them there too.

Lector wasn't sure how he would sleep that night, but to his surprise he didn't seem to have any nightmares. As he roused up sometime later, however, he started when he saw Johnson standing in the doorway. "Johnson?" he mumbled, still sleepy. "Are you alright?"

Johnson came in, definitely looking pale. "I dreamed that we found you mutilated . . . and dead. . . ." He sank into a chair next to the bed. "I had to come in and make sure it . . . wasn't real. . . ." He shuddered. "I always used to be calm, cool, and collected. When this happened, I was the first to break."

"There's no shame in that," Lector told him. "What Cove did was abominable." He looked away. "If I had been one of those left behind to receive the packages, I would have broke too."

"With fire, no doubt, like Nesbitt," Johnson said. "Not by running off to the bathroom because the shock is so horrifying that your stomach can't stand it. . . ."

Lector sat up in bed with a frown. "You think you're weak," he realized.

"I am, aren't I?" Johnson retorted.

"Not at all," Lector insisted. "I'm sure every one of you reacted to this in different ways. None of those ways are wrong! I just feel horrible that I caused so much suffering." He looked away. "Although I can't deny that I'm glad to be cared about so much." He hesitated. "As far as being weak goes, I feel like I am. Cove managed to drug me more than once so he could restrain and beat me. I should have been able to stop it."

"I'm sure Cove had very sneaky ways of drugging you," Johnson frowned.

"He did," Lector said. "Most times he did it while I was asleep or unconscious. When I was awake, he hid the drug in his hand. But it still upsets me."

"I'm sure any time you were awake, you were trying to protect Mokuba," Johnson said.

"That's true," Lector admitted.

"Then your attention was divided, and Cove was counting on that," Johnson said. "I wouldn't be surprised if that's another reason why he chose to abduct Mokuba."

Lector looked sick at the thought. "If it was, I pray Mokuba will never know it. That poor boy has enough issues with self-confidence and blaming himself as it is."

"Unless the lab man knew it too and it will come out in his trial, that knowledge died with Cove," Johnson said.

Lector nodded, and then froze as a new thought came to him. "Does my family in New Orleans know about what's been happening?"

"Not unless the news took the story that far," Johnson said. "None of us wanted to tell them. Of course . . . if you'd really been dead . . . we would have had to have told Evangeline, at least. . . ."

"Poor Evangeline," Lector sighed. "Well, I'm sure she didn't know or she would have been calling. We gave her all of our numbers."

"I can't really think that anyone but your father wouldn't be upset about something so horrible," Johnson said.

"Maybe even he would," Lector said. "Although I doubt it."

Johnson did too. Despite the man's pleading Guilty for the explosion at his warehouse that had almost killed several people, he had remained standoffish and uncommunicative towards Lector.

"Anyway," Lector said, "it doesn't matter. I've moved on."

"Have you really?" Johnson asked. "Can anyone really move on from the way your father treated you?"

Lector paused. "I've accepted the way things are," he said. "Naturally I will always regret the way things are, but I can't change them. There is nothing I can do unless my father has a change of heart. I just have to live my life as best as I can. You don't know how grateful I am that I don't have to do it alone."

"Objection," Johnson said with a bit of a smile, "I think I do. Most likely about as much as we're grateful you're still here to live your life."

"That's a good point," Lector acknowledged with a smile of his own.

A shadow in the doorway caused them both to look up. Nesbitt was standing there, looking awkward.

"You had a bad dream too?" Johnson wondered.

"No. . . ." Nesbitt came into the room. "I just wanted to make sure that _this_ wasn't a dream." He looked to Lector.

"It's real," Lector assured him.

Gansley and Crump soon appeared in the doorway as well and went in. Seeing Lector alive and well, Gansley relaxed, peace coming into his eyes. They were all together again, just as it should be.

"Are you alright, Gansley?" Lector asked.

"I wondered if I would ever be alright again," Gansley growled. "Especially since this madman was deliberately targeting me. But yes, I'll be alright now."

"Same here," Crump said.

"I wonder if there was any specific reason he picked me to abduct or if I was just the first one he was able to get," Lector frowned.

"I can't say," Gansley said. "I would have been just as upset if he had chosen any of the others."

"Honestly, I think he chose Lector on purpose," Johnson said. "He was ranting about proving himself the bigger man. I think in his twisted mind, he felt he could prove that the best by harming the physically strongest man among us."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Lector growled.

"At least it's over now," Crump said.

"The scars may remain for a while," Gansley said.

No one was surprised about that thought either.

"But we'll recover," Johnson said. "If Lector had been dead . . . or mutilated . . . we never would have been able to."

Lector shuddered but said, "If I was mutilated, it would have been hard to recover, but I know I would have eventually, since I wouldn't have been alone."

"Never," Gansley vowed.

The others echoed their agreement.

None of them felt like going back to bed right away, so they lingering for a while, sometimes talking, sometimes just quietly enjoying being together again. When sleep at last overtook them, it was peaceful and pleasant for the first time in days.


End file.
